Midwest Theatre Spotlight, Numero Cuatro

For our fourth spotlight, I am directing you a little closer to home. Only one year old, the Encore Players are, as far as I am aware, the only professional musical theatre touring company in Iowa. Their current touring show is Celebrate Sondheim which features music from the composer/lyricist's songbook. The Encore Players were formed under the auspices of the newly built Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts in Fairfield, Iowa. The gala opening of that space is December 7. More information about the opening can be found here under the "Featured Events" section. The Center and the Encore Players are two more examples of what a culturally rich state we live in.

Footliters Grease Auditions

Footliters - The Young Footliters will hold auditions for Grease! (the school version) for actors in grades seven through twelve. Performances will be at the Englert, March 7th through the 9th. Audition dates are January 3rd and 4th from 5-9 PM. Callbacks are Saturday, January 5th from 1-3 PM. All auditions are at the Englert Theatre. For an audition form and more information, go here.

Auditions for Mere Mortals

Catalyst - Auditions have been announced for Catalyst's next production, Mere Mortals: Six One-Act Comedies by David Ives. They had originally announced they would be producing only Time Flies, which is one of the short plays in this collection. Appreantly, they are going to produce all six one-act comedies. The auditions will take place December 1 from 5-8 PM and December 2 from 2-5 PM at the Robert A. Lee Iowa City Recreation Center at 220 South Gilbert Street in Iowa City, IA. For more information, go here.

Auditions for 3A and Shakespeare

Riverside - Riverside Theatre will hold auditions for the spring production of Apartment 3A and the 2008 Riverside Theatre Shakespeare Festival on Saturday, December 1st, 2007. Auditions will be held at 213 N. Gilbert St. Actors may audition for one or both opportunities. To schedule an audition, call the Riverside Theatre box office at (319) 338-7672.

Jeff Daniels’ romantic comedy Apartment 3A, directed by Ron Clark, will run March 27 – April 13, 2008. There are roles for three men, ages 30s-60, non-Equity only. Auditions requirements: P/R, one contemporary monologue, 1-2 minutes.

The 2008 Riverside Theatre Shakespeare Festival will employ a full time, professional company, both Equity and non-Equity actors. All actors will be cast in both shows and will also understudy. Rehearsals begin May 13. The productions play in repertory through July 13, a nine week contract. Audition requirements: P/R, two contrasting monologues (one classical and one contemporary), 3 minutes maximum.

For more information about audition opportunities or to schedule an audition, please call (319) 338-7672 or go here.

Riverside's goat show

Riverside - Riverside Theatre will present the American premiere of goat show: an odyssey behind barn doors, a one-woman show written and performed by Canadian playwright Jennifer Fawcett. The production will take place November 23 – December 2. They will also be collecting donations for Heifer International throughout the run.

goat show is an autobiographical tale of Dick and Jane, their daughter Rebecca and a herd of goats. All five characters (and the goats!) are played by Jennifer Fawcett in this heartwarming tale. It’s storytelling at its finest as Fawcett takes you on the emotional roller coaster of what happens when you follow your dreams and it doesn’t quite turn out as planned. Fawcett remarks that the show isn’t really about goats “but about what we do for the people we love and how growing up is a never-ending process.” Displaying remarkable skill as an actor, Fawcett moves seamlessly from mom to dad to Rebecca and to the goats. Fawcett provides her thoughts about the show here.

goat show was originally written and produced in 1997 by Fawcett’s company, Red Engine Productions. It was dramaturged and directed by Eda Holmes and toured to fringe festivals in Ontario, including the SummerWorks Theatre Festival in Toronto. The following summer it was invited to the Blyth Festival, one of Canada’s oldest and most prestigious summer theatre festivals. In 2003, considerable revisions were made and the show was remounted, once again under the direction of Eda Holmes. An excerpt was presented at the Tarragon Spring Arts Fair (Tarragon Theatre, Toronto) and the show was then toured to the Vancouver and Cowichan Fringe Festivals in British Columbia, and the Mutton Busting Performance/Art Festival in Calgary, Alberta. The American premiere of goat show, produced by Working Group Theatre and presented by Riverside Theatre, is directed by Sean Christopher Lewis, with lighting design by Doug Anderson.

Riverside Theatre will take advantage of this unique opportunity to pair with Heifer International. This nonprofit organization is working to end world hunger by giving cows, goats and other food and income producing livestock to impoverished families around the world. Recipients of these gifts are trained in animal care and environmentally sound agricultural practices so they can lift themselves out of poverty and become self-reliant. Heifer currently provides 27 different kinds of livestock to families in 47 countries, including the United States.

Riverside Theatre will be collecting donations during goat show towards the purchase of a goat for this organization: a goal of $120. Heifer International describes the gift of a goat as a lasting and meaningful donation. The organization points out that “goats can thrive in climates too harsh for other livestock…yet as tough as they are, goats are amazingly gentle and great animals for families with young children.” Another benefit of goats is the ability to give up to a gallon of milk each day. Families can use leftover milk to make yogurts, cheeses or to sell at the market for essential supplies.

The running time is one hour without intermission. For tickets, go here.

Weekend Theatre Roundup

This is the final night for Dreamwell's Kimberly Akimbo. Review here.

Catalyst's Godspell opened Thursday and continues through this weekend. Review here.

And last but not least, Footliters' Best Christmas Pageant opened last night and continues through the weekend. Information here.

A review of Godspell

Catalyst - It's tough to do a play at Old Brick, the space Catalyst Acting Company has chosen to put on its production of Godspell. Cavernous is a generous term for describing the space. The size of the hall forces tough choices when setting up the house, when lighting the play space, and when blocking the show.

Godspell is the sort of show that should be a success at Old Brick. The set, lighting, and staging requirements are minimal, thus eliminating many of the problems most plays put on at Old Brick face. Catalyst's set consisted of eight doors, symmetrically arranged around the stage. At the back of the stage was another door lying flat on two sawhorses. On the wall behind the stage were three curtains, two white curtains flanking what appeared to be a metallic shower curtain.

When it originally opened, Godspell was a radical departure from the normal way the lessons of the Gospels were presented. The message of Godspell was that it was fun to become a follower of Christ, that becoming a follower of Christ was a celebratory event. The main focus of Godspell is teaching these lessons in a new way, not about telling a good story. (This being the main difference between Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar - Superstar ultimately could care less about the teachings of Christ and is entirely focused on telling a good story.) These days, elements of that Godspell approach are a part of most mainstream religious services. It is a testament to the quality of the show that what was once a radical departure from the norm is now, in many ways, the norm.

As the play opens, members of the company appear one after another, each singing as a representative of a different theological strain. At least, they were doing that if you could hear them. Several of the singers were not able to project above the three-piece orchestra. This problem continued throughout the entire show, not just the opening number. There were also pitch problems at several spots in the opening, and these too continued throughout the entire show.

Let me digress for a moment here. It's tough to do a musical. There are few things more difficult to do onstage than act and sing at the same time. You don't have to worry about pitch when performing in a non-musical; you don't have to worry about keeping time with musical accompaniment. If you forget your lines in a non-musical you can often cover without the audience knowing. If you drop a line while singing a song, everyone knows. Further, you might not even be aware of some of these problems until performing before an audience for the first time. In general, for a musical to be a success, it must depend on the singers in the cast.

There are some very good singers in this cast, and the highlights of the show all revolve around them. Rachel Brown's performance of Day By Day was stunning, as was Jeffrey Mead's lead on We Beseech Thee. Those two, along with Carol Johnk (who did a very good job with one of the show's poorest songs, By My Side), were great on Light Of The World. Jessica Fannuchi's O, Bless The Lord was also quite good. The other players had a mix of moments, with good voices that tended to get lost against the accompaniment.

Still, the ultimate success or failure of Godspell is less about the members of the company and more about the actor playing Jesus. As written, the Jesus of Godspell is part carnival barker, part circus ringmaster, part vaudeville entertainer, and all showman. As written, people are drawn to the Jesus of Godspell because of his personality and charisma as much as being drawn to his teachings. John Marshall brings none of those qualities to his performance as Jesus. There was no joy, no happiness, no sense of celebration to his performance, and the show as a whole suffers from those elements. It didn't help that large portions of both his speaking and singing parts were lost to the space. Marshall's Jesus was all teacher, which is fine in general, but not how the role is written. This made the production as a whole less about a celebration of Christ and his lessons and his message and more about teaching.

The choreography was by a number of different artists with Arts a la Carte, and the result has an unevenness that should have been anticipated. Some of it was quite good, some of it was quite wooden, and certain portions were (unintentionally) funny. I understand that part of the impetus behind the project was the collaboration with Arts a la Carte, but perhaps it would have been better for the sake of the production to have one lead choreographer through whom the other choreographers filtered ideas.

The three-piece orchestra was quite good. I don't think that the problems with hearing some of the vocalists were due to the musicians being too loud as much as they were due to the singers not projecting enough. The lighting was quite good throughout, and the set and staging first rate.

Despite what you might think from the review, I have no hesitation about recommending the show to anyone. Every thing I mention is easily correctable, and it isn't difficult to see most of the problems stemming from opening night jitters. Good casts and good directors learn as a show goes on, and this cast is a good cast and this director, Jeff Shields, is a good director. Godspell runs through Sunday, and ticket information can be found here.

--David Pierce

David Pierce is a four-time past president of the Iowa City Community Theatre. He has acted, sung, directed, and worked backstage for far too many local productions to mention. He is a writer both by trade and inclination, with law and journalism as an educational background.

(Pictured are Rachel Brown, Jessica Fannuchi, Roxanne Gustaveson, Michael Sotelo, Frederica Kenyon, John Marshall, Carol Johnk, Meghan Henry, and Jim Brewer.)

Footliters' Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Footliters - In the spirit of the season, The Young Footliters will be performing The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The performances will be at the Iowa City Community Theatre located on the Johnson County Fairgrounds in Building A. The show will run November 16 and 17 at 7 pm and November 18 at 2 pm.

Adapted from the best-selling children’s book written by Barbara Robinson, this play is sure to entertain both children and adults. The young performers bring to life the meaning of the upcoming holiday season. The show focuses on the Herdman children who were possibly the worst behaved children in the world. When they decide to see what church is all about, they end up with the main parts in the annual Christmas show. In spite of rehearsals filled with mayhem and children gone wild, the show magically turns out to be the best Christmas pageant ever.

As Co-Director, Becky Dagle, explains, "I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into when I decided to try my hand at directing. I sometimes find myself identifying a little too closely with Grace Bradley, the mother in this play, who ends up directing the Christmas pageant when the experienced pageant director falls ill! Besides being humorous, this is a story about accepting people who may be different from yourself. You may just find they aren’t as bad as you think." Mary Loops is the other Co-Director for the performance of this show.

For more information, go here.

A review of Kimberly Akimbo

Dreamwell - Kimberly Levaco is sixteen years old, and she’s going to die soon. She has a rare disease which causes her to age at over four times the normal rate, making her the only girl in her school who could pass for somebody’s grandmother. As if this weren’t enough, her hypochondriac mother is convinced she’s the one who’s going to die, and her alcoholic father is too lost in his own world to pay any attention to her. The only person in the family who remembers Kimberly’s birthday is her fugitive aunt, who is busy trying to pull her niece into her check-washing scheme. Finally, her only friend is an anxiety-ridden boy whose own family may be even worse.

Feel awkward? Confused? Despairing of your own mortality? Well, lighten up. Kimberly Akimbo is a comedy. David Lindsay-Abaire’s latest tale of life, death, and dysfunction is not dark and dreary but is actually quite warm, fast-paced, and redeeming. The characters and situations are just outrageous enough to be funny without being unfamiliar. The family may be dysfunctional, but the play is about their struggle to be there for each other despite their failings.

Take Pattie, who is so concerned that her new baby knows what she was really like that she carries a tape recorder everywhere she goes. Or Buddy, who celebrates his daughter’s birthday with a store-bought cake and a 3:00 AM game of “Trouble.” They’re fallible, sure, almost beyond redemption at times, but their attempts to make amends and be a "normal" family are touching and quite funny.

It is Debra, the black sheep, who teaches Kimberly not to let life pass her by. Likewise, her classmate Jeff shows her that her lot in life is not set in stone, taking the letters in her name and rearranging them into "cleverly akimbo." Kimberly’s life is far from perfect, but it’s the only life she has, and she’s going to make the most of it.

I was delighted and touched by this company’s work. Chris Hunt was wonderful as Kimberly, and between her body language and her costume, I was able to forget that she wasn’t really sixteen. Her energy kept the play alive, as did that of Chuck Dufano and Vicki Krajewski, who played her parents. Lane Hanon was charming as the awkward Jeff, and Elisa Elizalde brought a wonderful mischief to the role of Debra, the devious aunt. The set was simple but effective, dominated by gaudy wallpaper that added just the right tone to this story of misfits and misadventures.

--James Trainor

James recently graduated from Cornell College with a Bachelor of Special Studies in English and Theater. He has also acted and directed for Stage Left Theater in Cedar Rapids, and is currently preparing to direct Flu Season there in March.

(Photo one is Chris Hunt. Photo two is Vicki Krajewski and Chris Hunt.)

Backstage with Godspell

Catalyst - Catalyst's production of Godspell opens in a few days. We recently had the chance to ask director Jeff Shields and choreography coordinator Carol Johnk to give us the inside scoop on the show.

Godspell is a popular show that has been done many times - are you going for a classic interpretation or something a little bit different?

Jeff: Godspell is a wonderful story about building community. Regardless of anyone's faith, the stories and parables are universal. We are taking this show as a "common person's" experience. Godspell, unlike other musicals, is about the stories and lessons. It's not about big, flashy costumes. It's not about elaborate sets. It's about people coming together for a greater good with a common mission. I really wanted us to focus on the stories, not the superficial aspects of the show. It's easy to get carried away with elaborate costumes and sets - but those are distracting from the true purpose of this production.

So it's not going to be too different from other productions in the past?

Carol: It is going to be different from other productions. There isn't the clown make-up or the funky clothes - no tie-dyed t-shirts in this production. We've really tried to be ordinary people who are called to follow Jesus and in the process form a community that didn't exist before. The focus is on that - the story of the formation of community. The music is still very familiar, but has, I think, a more updated feel. It isn't quite the folk music of the 70s.

I know the choreography was done by Arts a la Carte. Carol, were you the person handling that or someone else in the group?

Carol: AAC is coordinating the choreography. What that means is that I've tapped into our teachers and associates to find different choreographers for different Godspell numbers. This show lends itself well for this - the songs are so different from each other that having different styles of choreography worked very well. Choreographers include Mary Ann Letizio, Kameron Spears, Mark McCusker and Fritha Coltrain. Cast members have also been doing some of the choreography. Jessica Fenucci and Wendy Ostrem have done one of the numbers.

How has that partnership between the two groups worked so far?

Jeff: The partnership has been fantastic! Arts a la Carte was wonderful in coordinating the efforts of some amazing choreographers. They also helped provide some rehearsal space in their studio for the production. Carol has been an wonderful liasion between Catalyst and the choreographers.

Carol: When I'm being the liaison between Jeff and the choreographers, it is a lot less for him to worry about. I am a firm believer in collaboration. There are a number of non-profits arts groups in our area. We are very fortunate in that regard. But having so many organizations sometimes means that resources, both financial and human, are stretched a little thin. When groups collaborate they can pool their resources and talents and everyone benefits. AAC would never have attempted to put on a show like Godspell and Catalyst needed different types of choreography... it really is a perfect fit.

Tell us a little about the rehearsal process - the highs, the lows, the fun stuff, the challenges...

Carol: The rehearsal process has been a real learning experience for me. I've always done theater from an actor's point of view, not the production side. It is sometimes quite challenging to get four different choreographers scheduled. Trying to keep it to one or two new songs/steps a night is tricky if all the choreographers are only available on Thursday, for example. But we've been very fortunate and the choreographers have been flexible. It is also challenging for the cast to adjust to the differing styles of the choreographers. Some come in with it all planned in their heads and others come in with an idea and watch and see how things develop. It has also been a challenge for the choreographers. Some have never done choreography for a show like this. They are all professional dancers and sometimes making the shift from working with dancers to working with actors who may or may not have any dance experience has been an interesting process, too.

This is truly an ensemble show. Everyone is on stage pretty much all the time, and getting seventeen people at rehearsals is also tricky. One of the joys is getting to know this cast... what a great group of people. We've had several people involved in the production that have had to drop out for various reasons and the people that have replaced them have been just great. We've had some differences along the way, but overall, it's been a pretty happy cast. They've worked really hard and the results are very good.

About the cast changes, Heather Lawler was originally listed as playing Sonia. However, now it's Robyn McCright. How did that change come about?

Jeff: Heather decided to take a role in an area production of Seussical and leave her role with Godspell behind. Robyn had been interested in the show but was unable to audition due to her involvement in ICCT's production of Crimes of the Heart. When there was an opening we contacted Robyn and she happily agreed to take over the role. Her enthusiasm and amazing upbeat attitude has been a refreshing addition to the production!

How does this show fit in with Catalyst's mission?

Jeff: Catalyst strives to work with other arts and community organizations... to build a stronger community of groups. This show is a perfect example of such an endeavor.

What lead you to add another performance to the run?

Jeff: Ticket reservations have been going strong for the past few weeks and we decided that it would be beneficial to offer another performance of the show. This show has proven to be quite attractive to theatre-goers for several reasons. Godspell is an extremely popular show that is known by many people in the area. Our ticket prices are extremely low so that families can come and enjoy a live theatre experience. Our area has proven that people want affordable, family oriented entertainment... which we've been lacking to a certain degree lately.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Carol: I'm really excited to be a part of this production. We have a cast that is a wonderful mix of familiar faces and new faces. We have people who have lived in the community for a long time, but haven't done theater before and we also have a cast member who has only lived in the community for about a month. There is some really amazing talent in this production and I'm really excited about it. There have been challenges getting this production going, but the cast and crew are amazingly dedicated and talented and it is going to be worth seeing!

(Picture one is Jeffrey Mead, Wendy Ostrem, Rachel Bown, Meghan Henry, Roxanne Gustaveson, Jim Brewer, Ali Heath, Frederica Kenyon, Jeff Stewart, Jessica Fannuchi, Meghan Henry. Picture two is Roxanne Gustaveson, Ali Heath, Rachel Brown, Jessical Fannuchi, and Rachel Stewart.)

Weekend Theatre Roundup

Dreamwell's Kimberly Akimbo opens tomorrow night at the Unitarian Society building. Here is the Press Citizen article and our interview with the director.

And The Shadow Box continues at ICCT. Reviews are here and here.

Get out there and see some live theatre!


A scene from Kimberly Akimbo

A scene from The Shadow Box

A review of The Shadow Box

ICCT - Iowa City Community Theatre’s production of Michael Cristofer’s The Shadow Box succeeds in tackling a very demanding and difficult piece of theatre and creating an entertaining and honestly emotionally moving experience.

According to the program, this play was first produced in 1975 in Los Angeles at a time when the Hospice Movement and the ideas behind it were just beginning to find a place in the medical community. The script is alas somewhat dated, following too tight and didactic a structure based on Helen Kubler-Ross’s five stages of grief which she detailed in her book, On Death and Dying. It was published just six years before the play premiered. At the time, these defined stages were not as commonly known, but thirty-two years later the text challenges actors and directors to no longer educate audiences but remind them.

The Shadow Box tells the stories of three very different families dealing with a terminal illness. The action takes place in three cottages on the grounds of a hospice. We are first introduced to Joe (Rip Russell), his wife Maggie (Kathy Maxey), and their son, Steve (Sam Schlesinger).

The dynamic between Joe and Maggie is perhaps the strongest and most well defined of the three. Both actors turn in fantastic performances fully invested vocally, physically, and emotionally.

Newcomer to ICCT Schlesinger does a good job of grounding the story and presenting in less selfish terms just what stakes are involved. He also provides music during intermission and at the end of the play where the repetition of a familiar piece of music proves haunting.

The second family is less traditionally structured with Jeff Emrich playing Brian, a man spending his final days with his lover and friend, Mark (Pat Keyes). Their pattern of caretaking and living every day as the last one is broken by the arrival of ex-wife Beverly (Angela Ayres).

Their story is the most overwritten and focused on educating the audience. This pulled me away from the play at times. The young Ayres was also an interesting casting choice for a character that was described as a bit of a shabby, worn-around-the-edges, former party girl straight from an Elvis Costello song.

During one of the scenes in this cottage, one of the most important elements of the play became apparent and, because of Keyes haunting and subtle performance, a simple and sad epiphany occurred to me. Even when the characters seem to be having a dialogue, they are working things out, out loud and to themselves, only barely engaged with the people around them. When dealing with your own mortality, or the impending death of one you love, in many ways you suffer alone. There is so much you cannot or will not share so as not to burden those you love. When the actors understood this, the scenes were incredibly powerful. While there were moments the staging, language, and just possibly the temptation to be more theatrical got in the way, these moments were very few.

The third story is that of an older woman, Felicity (Evelyn Stanske), and her daughter Agnes (Mary Johnson). The performances in this story were wonderful, but I confess to having found the story itself a bit less honest and original than the others.

Rounding out the cast was Gerry Roe as the Interviewer, who was simply a voice from another room coaxing the characters to share their grief and feelings. Roe’s voice alone creates a powerful presence on the stage.

The staging of the show was also very impressive and created a very nice snapshot when walking into the theater itself. I often wonder why more directors don’t consider the impact of this first impression. Director Luis Sierra definitely created a spatial tableau that intrigued and informed of us of the empty spaces that would lie between the characters.

Without The Shadow Box, we might not have gotten more recent plays like The Normal Heart and As Is in the late 1980s and Marvin’s Room in the 1990s. These plays furthered our artistic discussions of death and dying and drew on the more public knowledge of the process of grief.
The Shadow Box deserves to be performed again, and thanks to Sierra and cast and crew, most of the arguments for relegating it to a history of American theatre textbooks are proven wrong. Because of its age and subject, it is impossible to do this play well without a love and respect for the characters. It was obvious that the actors all had a great respect for the story they were telling.

--Matthew Brewbaker

Matthew Brewbaker spent many years as artistic Director of Dreamwell Theatre and has directed and appeared in many Dreamwell Theatre and Iowa City Community Theatre productions. He studied experimental theater at New York University.

(Photo one is Pat Keyes and Angela Ayres. Photo two is Sam Schlesinger)

A second review of The Shadow Box

ICCT - What is most interesting about Michael Cristofer's The Shadow Box is that it is actually three short plays in one. Each of the three mini-plays takes place in a California Hospice and track a snapshot in the life of a dying person. The disembodied voice of the Interviewer (Gerry Roe) links the stories together as one by one he asks the patients and family members to discuss their feelings.

The Iowa City Community Theatre's production wonderfully captures each of these stories. First we are introduced to Joe (Rip Russell) and his wife Maggie (Kathy Maxey), who is stuck deeply in denial about Joe's illness. They have a son, Steve (Sam Schlesinger), whom Maggie has kept in the dark about Joe's impending death. Anyone who saw Russell's strong portrayal of Atticus Finch in last season's To Kill a Mockingbird won't recognize him as the scared Joe. He wonderfully disappears into his character, using his wide, fearful eyes to show his wonder and shock that he has found himself in this situation. Maxey is equally good as the wife who won't even walk into Joe's cottage, desperately trying to put off the moment when she has to confront the loss of her husband. The play doesn't give the character of the son much to do, so the director's choice of utilizing Schlesinger's guitar talent was an excellent one. He plays during intermission and a few times offstage during the show, adding emotional resonance to those scenes. The highlight of the play, however, was the emotionally gripping confrontation scene between Joe and Maggie. Because Russell and Maxey had been expertly building in intensity for the entire play, this explosion of emotion was riveting.

The second story revolves around Agnes (Mary Johnson) and her dying mother (Evelyn Stanske). Johnson plays Agnes as a brittle, sweet woman whose anger with her mother boils beneath the surface like a guilty secret. When she realizes her own complicity in her mother's suffering, Johnson's face moves from shock to anger to guilt in the space of five seconds. Stanske is wonderful as the cantankerous mother, moving easily from angry in one scene to heartbreakingly vulnerable in the next. And her hilarious rendition of a bawdy song is not to be missed!

In the final story, Mark (Pat Keyes) is dealing with his lover Brian's (Jeff Emrich) impending death. That is complicated when Brian's ex-wife Beverly (Angela Ayres) arrives. Emrich uses a forced laugh and shy smile wonderfully to show Brian's attempt to stay upbeat despite his impending death. There is a wonderful contrast between the movements and speech of Keyes and Ayres. He has a staccato approach to all of his movements and especially his speech, which shows how completely out of control his character is in dealing with the upcoming death of his lover. In contrast, Ayres flows through the room and her speech slides into the conversation easily. Unfortunately, a climatic slap scene between the two falls a little flat because of the pauses in the action.

I was a little fearful that show would appear dated after 30 years. However, the issues these characters are dealing with are timeless. It's a show that holds up well and ICCT's production is one you should definitely catch.

--Matthew Falduto

Matthew has a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Iowa. He has directed, acted in, and produced theater in the Iowa City area for over ten years. He has worked with the Iowa City Community Theatre, City Circle and Dreamwell, of which he is a founder. Two of his plays have been produced in the Iowa City area. In another brief life, he also worked as a technical writer.

(Photo one is Rip Russell, Sam Schlesinger, and Kathy Maxey. Photo two is Mary Johnson and Evelyn Stanske.)

Weekend Theatre Roundup

Two shows open this weekend: The Shadow Box and Everything Goes: A Broadway Review. This is the final weekend for The Last Christmas Ride Home.

The Press Citizen has articles for The Shadow Box and Everything Goes.

We'll have reviewers at The Shadow Box this weekend. The reviews will be posted next week.